


Friendship is a Battlefield

by MysticDeadman



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types
Genre: Anthology, Comedy, Drama, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2020-03-26 11:46:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19005154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticDeadman/pseuds/MysticDeadman
Summary: Hunting Mavericks can be, and is, a full-time challenge. Thankfully, the Maverick Hunters are consummate professionals. They take their jobs, and their relationships seriously. Very seriously. Very.





	1. Eyes of the Beholder

Two Maverick Hunters strolled down a hallway in Maverick Hunter HQ. To the casual onlooker, it was clear that the two were engaged in a conversation about something. It also appeared that the one in blue armor was rapidly losing patience to the one clad in dark-purple armor.

As in, trying not to smack someone levels of lost patience.

“You have to know what I’m talking about.”

“We’re not having this conversation.”

“C’mon, X! Haven’t you seen her lately?”

“Axl, I told you. We are _not_ having this discussion.”

The younger Maverick Hunter smirked at this. “’Discussion’? So you  _do_ have an opinion on this!” 

X sighed, going to extreme lengths to not let either hand swing up and have an impromptu meeting with his face.

“ _No_ , I do _not_ have an opinion on this matter. And, as a Probationary Hunter, I’d expect you to know better than to even _broach_ this subject to anyone in this building, _especially_ not to the Hunter that happens to be _your superior officer._ ”

Axl folded his hands behind his head, eyes moving to a point on the wall as the two walked down a hallway. He made no effort to hide the fact that he was uninterested in the latest “X Lecture Session,” as he dubbed them. As X finished his mini tirade, one of his hands scratched away at his helmet.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Sir.”

X tried to stare a hole into his subordinate.

“I’m serious, Axl. Even if this subject weren’t a serious breach in protocol, it demonstrates a huge gap in moral standing on your part. I don’t know how things were run in Red Alert, but here, we have a standard and expectation that we uphold every single member of this organization to. That standard includes showing _due and proper respect_ for one another. Am I clear?”

Axl let his hands down. It was clear he wasn’t getting out of this situation without at least making an effort to  _appear_ that he was listening to X. It didn’t help his situation that X was right about this; he was as right about this as he was with pretty much everything else since he’d defected to the Hunters.

“You’re right, Sir,” He bowed his head slightly, hoping that it was enough to appear apologetic while the two continued to walk, “I’ve been incredibly disrespectful toward not only one of our fellow members of the Maverick Hunters, but also to one of our closest teammates. I’m sorry.” 

X nodded once. “Very good. Apology accepted.”

The two continued to walk in silence for a  few moments. The only thing that could be heard was the mechanical thumping of their footsteps as they neared their destination. Once he felt enough time had passed, Axl let a wicked grin stretch across his lips. X, so focused on getting his mind off the conversation and onto wherever it was the two were going, never noticed his subordinate’s expression.

“But seriously. Have you _looked_ at Layer lately? Her designer obviously knew what he liked, and apparently what I like, too.”

Very rarely would anyone ever say they could see X as being anything other than the consummate professional. Very rarely did he ever raise his voice, and the only times he ever spoke down to someone, he handled himself with care. He almost never spoke with a more negative inflection in his voice than disappointment.

If anybody could hear the conversation the two were having, they would also say they couldn’t blame X for his outburst.

“OH MY GOD!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to make it clear that I apologize for nothing that goes into this series.
> 
> Except Axl, maybe.
> 
> ...nah.


	2. Flip the Script

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor Signas.

General Signas considered himself a calm and collected man. One needs to be if they’re going to lead the world’s only militarized force tasked with putting down the Maverick threat. He did his best to maintain a level head at all times, so as not to allow anyone under his command to see the amounts of stress he dealt with on a regular basis.

Sometimes, however, the strain of the job could get to him. Having the ability to send men and women to their potential ends at the hands of criminally insane Reploids was something that few had within themselves, and he felt personally responsible for each and every Hunter that failed to return.

Sometimes, however, the stresses sometimes came from situations that one couldn’t plan for. Sometimes, something would happen in the Maverick Hunter base that made him question the very fabric of existence.

Signas came across one such situation when he entered the Simulation Training deck to check in on the squad that was currently running a training set.

Or, that’s what was supposed to be happening.

Instead, what he saw and heard was one of the situations that would drive him to pull his hat down until his head went through it.

Unit 17 had been assigned a Simulator exercise that day in order to keep themselves sharp and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Standard protocol was that the entirety of the unit, from Operators and Support, to the Hunters themselves were required to take part in the exercises to ensure that each mission, training or otherwise, would be executed flawlessly. Each member of the team knew their role and were to perform their duties to the utmost of their ability.

Instead, on this day, it was as if Unit 17 decided that they needed to do things a little…differently.

Alia, Layer and Pallette were the Reploids that formed Unit 17’s Support Team and were arguably the best of the best among the Maverick Hunters. The Assault team consisted of X, Zero, and Axl and were the best of the best without debate.

Which made it odd that the three combatants of the team were sat in the Support Pods that would normally be occupied by the proper team members, while the Support Team were connected to the simulators.

The three hadn’t noticed their Commander-in-Chief entering the room, all of them too preoccupied with trying to sort out the mess that they’d managed to get into with the Operator and Navigators in a “battle.”

X ran his eyes over the screen, his face contorted into something between visible confusion and panic.

“How are you supposed to read anything? There’s so much information on this thing I don’t think I could keep up if I was directly hardwired into the computer!”

“ _Relax, X!”_ Alia could be heard over the comm line in the room, “ _You don’t need to read all of it, just what I need to know to get rid of these enemies.”_

“And how am I supposed to know what I’m supposed to read?!”

“ _It’s easy! Just go between the mission footage and the intelligence display. Match what’s on the screens and you can tell me what’s going on.”_

“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT WHEN NOTHING STAYS ON THE SCREEN FOR LONGER THAN NOT AT ALL?!”

While X and Alia carried on, Signas looked over to see Zero ready to tear his own hair out.

“Layer, stop standing around and get in there!”

_“No, Zero! Ther_ _e’s a right way to do this, and I’m going to do it!”_

“Okay,” Zero sighed, “I get that you use a Rapier as your weapon, but you can’t use your fencing in a battle! Nobody’s actually going to care about how high you hold your back hand or which foot you hop with first!”

“ _You don’t understand! I can’t do this any other way! I don’t know how!”_

Zero cried out in frustration, barely fighting off the urge to put one or both hands into the console in front of him. Instead, he took a second to collect himself before getting back into the argument. Signas made a mental note to assign Zero to teach Layer how to properly fight, just in case.

He then turned to the third member of the group, expecting to see something going catastrophic with him, too. Instead, he was treated to the sight of Axl nearly losing his mind in hysterical laughter. Signas walked up to the station to see what was happening. The monitor showed Pallette, the youngest and newest member of the Support Team, wielding a pair of Buster Guns similar to the kind that Axl used.

Unlike her two teammates in the “field,” Palette was actually fighting the “enemies” that the Supports had encountered. Also unlike them, Palette was almost dancing as she fired away at her enemies. Every shot was accompanied by a strange pose. Arms would be contorted into positions that would make firing a weapon impractical at the very least. If Signas listened closely, he could hear the young Navigator humming a tune to herself as she went along. Her fighting “style,” if it could be called that, was very flashy. It was very showy. It was attention grabbing.

But most of all, it was ineffectual as hell, if the shots that sailed everywhere but their intended targets were any indication.

Axl apparently saw no issues with this and howled away as though it were the most hilarious thing in the world.

“Waitwaitwait,” he gasped, wiping away tears of joy while trying to catch his breath, “you need to add in some sound effects! That’d make it even better!”

“ _Ooh!”_ Palette answered, _“you think so?”_

“Oh yeah! Give it a shot!”

Palette struck another pose, spinning her guns in a way that they somehow ended up upside-down in her hands with her pinkies on the triggers.

“ _Okay then!”_ She took aim at an enemy, _“Guess who has two hands and is cute as heck! This gal! KABLAM!”_

She took the shots, both of them going way off target, but drawing intense laughter from the two of them.

Signas swept over the room one more time, making sure that he really was seeing what he was seeing. His eyes met the backs of each person’s head. Yep, this was real. This was what was happening in what was supposed to be a serious training simulation. He turned to the desk situated at the back of the room, still out of sight of the team in the simulators. He sat down at it, taking a second to rub his hands into his eyes. He then slowly took his hat off, took a deep breath, and started slamming his head repeatedly into the desk. He thumped himself over and over again, determined to hit himself until he forgot who he was.

It was several seconds before anybody else in the room noticed what was happening. The Supports quickly disconnected from the simulators, and the team as a whole got up from their stations.

None of them felt the need to tell him that the role reversal was for a bet. And that, by not saying anything before slamming his head, he’d given the win to the women.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like what you’ve seen and want to keep up with the Internet’s Eternal Phenomenon, then be sure to follow me on social media! I’m on Twitter (@MysticDeadman), Instagram (@mystic_deadman), AO3 (MysticDeadman), DeviantArt (MysticDeadman), Fanfiction (Mystic Deadman) and YouTube (Mystic Deadman)!
> 
> I also stream! My stream schedule is on my Twitter, and my channel can be found at twitch.tv/mysticdeadman


	3. In and Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A job well done. Or is it?

Marino stared at the SD Card in her hand. The mission was supposed to be simple. It was supposed to go off without a hitch. And for all intents and purposes, it did. Nothing went wrong until the end of it. Then she made a huge mistake, and because of it, she stared hard at the Card she held.

* * *

_Several Hours Earlier_

* * *

“Wait, you want me to, what?”

Axl grinned, his bright white teeth almost making Marino flinch at the sight of him.

“You heard me. Find out what Zero’s hiding in his room.”

Marino ran one last internal system check, just to make sure  her ears weren’t processing any errors. They weren’t. She confirmed that she was hearing stupid come out of Axl’s mouth.

She was immediately filled with regret. She had the sudden urge  to flip up the visor on her helmet to reveal the incredibly disappointed look on her face. Instead, she had to settle for letting Axl see it form in real time.

“Look, Axl,” she said, “I don’t want any involvement in whatever hare-brained schemes you’re trying to work around here. X invited me, and everyone else from the Giga Ctty Riots, to come join the Maverick Hunters at the risk of his reputation. Despite the way I’ve conducted business in the past, I have absolutely no interest in risking having a stable income for the first time in a long time just because you don’t know how to respect someone’s privacy.”

Axl rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, Marino. You’re a badass ninja! It wouldn’t even be hard for you! I  _know_ you want to know why Zero stays cooped up in his stateroom as long as he does every day.”

“Uh, I’m modeled after a ninja, I’m not actually one,” At this, she gestured to herself, “I mean, have you ever heard of a ninja in bright pink and white armor with green hair? I should get caught more often than I do just on principle alone.

“And besides, whatever he’s keeping to himself is a personal thing anyway,” She started walking away, waving Axl off as she did, “if he wanted us to know about it, he’d talk to us.”

“I’ll pay you.”

She stopped dead in her tracks. Dammit. He just had to attack her weak spot for maximum damage, didn’t he?  She turned her head slightly to look at the now smug Gunner.

“You’ll do what, now?”

“You heard me.”

Marino sighed. She  _just_ talked about getting paid on a consistent basis. She  _just_ talked about not ruining X’s reputation. She  _knew_ that Axl was just asking for all kinds of trouble.

She also  _knew_ that she was going to regret her next question.

“How much?’

* * *

_A Couple of Hours Later_

* * *

Marino wasn’t sure why she’d let 3,500  _damn Zenny_ convince her to betray several layers of trust she’d built up over the weeks that the Giga City Riots took place. But, here she was, tailing Zero as quietly ash she could.

Marino was a consummate professional. She wasn’t going to rush this job just to get quick payoff that wasn’t nearly equal to her regular pay. No, she was going to do this  _right_ . She followed Zero around as he made his way through the Maverick Hunter Headquarters. The swordsman bounced around from place to place thanks to his orders. She followed behind him, far enough that she was sure he couldn’t be aware that she was around, but not close enough to hear anything he had to say.

Which was fine. She wasn’t interested in anything he had to say. What she needed was the passcode to get into his stateroom and, if she could glean any, information about what it was that kept him locked up for hours at a time. Being based on ninja had its advantages. She knew how to hide herself away. She knew how to track someone better than even the best Hunters. She had the speed and agility to get into any secure location before security systems could either pick her up or, if they did, stop her.

She also knew that, if Axl’s gag ended up just being a waste of her time, she could hide his body where nobody could ever find it.

Eventually, Zero led her  to his room. She lowered her visor, the cameras on the front zooming in on the keypad and recording the numbers. She smiled to herself. At this point, all she had to do was wait until he left. She found a spot in an empty stateroom nearby and waited. Chances were that he wasn’t going to leave for a while, so she came prepared.

She lowered her visor and, using an eye-tracking keyboard, loaded up her kitty-video playlist.

Eventually, he came out. Marino snapped up out of the bed she was laying in at the sound of Zero’s door sliding open.  Hearing him talk out loud, she carefully poked her head out to see him standing in his doorway with nobody around.

_Good, he’s on a comm line. That should distract him long enough._

She took a three-point stance, crouching low to the ground while placing down a hand to stabilize herself. She activated a subroutine she hadn’t touched in months with a smile on her face. Her armor shifted from largely pink to mostly gray, and her hair changed from green to blonde. With Quicksilver activated, she could  _feel_ the boost in speed.

Zero took two steps out into the hallway, and that gave Marino all the room she needed. She was too fast to notice, and easily made her entrance before the door to the room could completely shut.  She was in, and her smile never left her face.

The room was dark, but that was no problem for the former information gatherer. Her still-down visor had a night vision mode that would allow her to see just fine. With it active, she took to searching the Unit 17 member’s room. She noted that there wasn’t a whole lot to the room. Not too surprising, really, when she considered the idea that Zero didn’t seem to be the kind of guy who would get hung up  on personal effects.

Even so, it was a while before she found anything she’d consider useful. A hand running across the frame of his bed knocked  an SD card loose, dropping it to the floor. Score. That’s the kind of thing that people lock themselves into rooms for.

Bounty in hand, she made her way  to the door. Again, she poked her head out, making sure the coast was clear. An empty hallway meant that Marino could get in one last dash before her Hyper Mode ran out and get herself to a relatively safe spot away from Zero’s room. Once she was far enough away, she tucked herself  behind the first corner she could find.

_Okay, time to see what’s on this bad boy._

She slid the SD card into an open slot on her visor. She was surprised for a moment when the card began autoplaying a file. What surprised her more was on the file.

A video started playing. The camera seemed to be a first-person view, the shooter being completely out of frame. A young Reploid girl, probably a few years older than Cinnamon, took up most of the frame. Marino would’ve thought her beautiful. Her long, brown hair flowed like a river. Her green eyes  shone like emeralds.

Marino would’ve thought her beautiful, if it weren’t for the many cuts littering her body, and the fact that the camera operator appeared to be holding her in their arms.  The girl looked at the camera and started speaking.

There wasn’t any audio to be heard, and Marino’s lack of lip-reading skills made it  difficult to figure out what was going on. That didn’t matter, though. It didn’t take very much awareness to understand what was happening. This wasn’t reassurance. This wasn’t a confirmation that things were going to be okay at the time.

The girl died, and the camera  swung upward, toward the sky.  Marino could feel the tears flowing from her eyes.

“So, what do you think?”

Marino jumped at the voice. She  lifted her visor and spun around to see Zero leaning against the corner she’d hidden herself behind. His arms were crossed and his eyes were shut tight.

“Wait, I, uh...”

“I know, Marino. I’d bet that Axl put you up to this, but betting on a sure thing isn’t exactly fair, is it? So, what do you think? Is my ‘little secret’ everything you hoped it would be?’

Marino could barely look at Zero. 

“How long?”  


“Almost all day. I’m a fighter, Marino. I know how to read people’s reactions to stuff. Too many eyes looked behind me to be normal. I figured someone was following me, and when I couldn’t pick up any trace of a stalker, I had a feeling.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know about--”

“I know,” Zero pushed himself off the wall, his arms still crossed and eyes still closed, “I kept it that way for a reason. I don’t need X trying to push me to get pointless psych evals that we all know I’m going to ignore anyway.”

Marino sighed. Zero wasn’t looking at her, but she could feel herself shrinking in his presence anyway.

“Look, I know you’re mad at me--”

“’Mad’? Oh no, I’m not mad. I’m _pissed_ ,” He unfolded his arms and opened his eyes, “but it’s not all toward you. Axl needs to learn to mind his own business, just like you do.”

Marino gulped at this.

“Don’t you worry, Marino. I’ll get my pound of flesh from you two at some point. Not now, though. I’m not exactly in the right mindset to not torture you two into oblivion.”

With that, Zero began to walk away, leaving the ninja on her own.

“Wait!” Marino called after him, pulling the card from her helmet.

Zero stopped. “What is it?”

“Just one question: Why the SD card?”

“So you’d find it,” Zero started walking again. “and then you could decide if invading someone’s privacy is worth it.”

Marino stared at the SD Card in her hand. The mission was supposed to be simple. It was supposed to go off without a hitch. And for all intents and purposes, it did. Nothing went wrong until the end of it. Then she made a huge mistake, and because of it, she stared hard at the Card she held.  A moment later, she wiped away her tears and crushed it.

Marino prided herself on never turning down a paying job, and never giving a refund due to failure.

_Well,_ she thought,  _first time for everything._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like what you’ve seen and want to keep up with the Internet’s Eternal Phenomenon, then be sure to follow me on social media! I’m on Twitter (@MysticDeadman), Instagram (@mystic_deadman), DeviantArt (MysticDeadman), Fanfiction (Mystic Deadman) and YouTube (Mystic Deadman)!
> 
> I also stream! My stream schedule is on my Twitter, and my channel can be found at twitch.tv/mysticdeadman


	4. Wounded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a Medic with the Maverick Hunters often teaches you about your patients. It also teaches you about patience.

“Cinnamon!”

The young nurse playfully rolled her eyes at her desk at the sound of her name being called. Most of the Hunters that would visit her for one reason or another would usually address her by title. Sometimes “Nurse,” other times “Doctor,” but usually neither one would be shouted from out in the hallway.

That made identifying the person who, “needed her help,” fairly easy.

The door to the Med Bay slid open, revealing a certain dark-purple armored Hunter holding his hand, comical tears of pain rolling down his face. Cinnamon couldn’t help but giggle at the sight despite knowing how unprofessional it was for her to do so.

“It huuuurrrts!”

Well, he came to her with a medical concern, and she couldn’t very well turn him down for it regardless of how serious it may have been. Cinnamon stood up from her chair, walking over to an empty Repair Bed. She motioned the young Hunter over to it, reaching for a data tablet as she did so.

“Okay, let me take a look at it.”

Axl joined her, taking a seat on the bed while still clutching his hand. Once she she was ready, he moved his uninjured hand, revealing the damage that had been done. Once again, Cinnamon found it difficult to hold her giggle in.

On Axl’s hand was the smallest little dot, in the space between his thumb and forefinger. A tiny trickle of blood seeped out from it.

“What?” Axl whined, still embellishing his injury, “it hurts so bad!”

Rolling her eyes, Cinnamon got on with the process of treating her “patient.” Photos of the injury, documents detailing the damage, steps necessary for treatment. Axl stopped crying at this point, letting his, “doctor,” get to her work.

“So,” he started, “how have things been for you so far?”

Cinammon didn’t look up from her pad, still scanning the affected area to make sure no internal damage had been done.

“It’s been really nice so far,” she answered as the scan ran, “everyone here’s treated me so nicely. Although, I do wish that some of my patients wouldn’t make up excuses just to come talk to me.”

From a nearby drawer, she took out a simple adhesive bandage and a small spray bottle. Axl raised an eyebrow at that last comment.

  
“Like who? Who do the girls and I need to have a chat with?” he asked, his free hand inching closer to one of his Buster Guns. Cinnamon rolled her eyes, though it was impossible for Axl to see her do it while she was looking down at his cut.

“Sorry, can’t say. Doctor-patient privilege prevents me from saying who it is.”

With that, she finished her treatment, sanitizing and bandaging the wound. The second she finished applying the bandage, she rapped the would lightly, but firmly, with her finger. Axl winced, pulling his hand away quickly.

“What was that for?”

Cinnamon smiled. “For pricking yourself with a needle just to come here.”

“What do you mean?” Axl asked, doing a horrendous job of feigning ignorance, “I poked my hand on something at my desk. I didn’t do this to myself. Nope.”

Cinnamon giggled again. How did he get away with his disguises when he was such a bad liar?

“Whatever you say, Axl. Anyway, you should be fine now. You can go.”

Axl frowned at the bandage slightly. It wasn’t supposed to be that quick. Maybe he should’ve dug in a touch and done a little more.

“Oh, well, okay. I’ll see you later, I guess?”

Cinnamon nodded, making her way back to her desk. “Okay. See you later!”

With that, Axl quietly left the room. Cinnamon took her seat, resting her head on one hand with a small smile. It wasn’t the first time he’d hurt himself stupidly as an excuse to visit her. It probably wouldn’t be the last. She sighed to herself. She wished that he wouldn’t do that kind of thing. It would’ve been perfectly fine to her if he just came to her one day without making it a work situation and just talked with her. He _was_ pretty cute, after all. If only he would just stop making excuses.

If only she could tell him to stop and just spend time with her. That would work, too.

 

* * *

_Several Days Later_

* * *

“Cinnamon!”

She snapped her head up from the reports she was writing out. The voice that called her name out was different from the usual one. Axl’s voice had a playful whine to it, and he usually dragged it out to let her know that it wasn’t serious.

This voice was deeper and rougher than his, and her name being called in such a short burst was definitely _not_ playful.

The door flew open, and a familiar trio of Hunters stumbled their way into the Med Bay. Cinnamon spun around in her seat and gasped as the sight in front of her. Zero and X stood on either side of Axl, with an arm slung over each of them while they held him up. The younger Hunter’s armor was heavily damaged, with cracks running all over various parts of his body and even pieces completely missing. Axl’s head hung low, groans of pain escaping with every labored breath. Blood dripped onto the floor from his head wounds.

Cinnamon sat still. The sight of one of her closest friends in such horrible shape was something she never expected to see. Being a Medic with the Maverick Hunters brought her patients in all sorts of conditions, sure, but rarely was anyone brought to her so badly injurted, and never anyone as close.

“Hey!” Zero shouted, snapping the young nurse out of her daze, “we need some help over here!”

Cinnamon shot up, running over to an empty bed. “ Get him on!”

The duo did as directed, watching silently as Cinnamon began her work. Hand moved frantically around the bed, taking stock of everything there was to see. Her mind raced as she compiled a list of Axl’s injuries and the best ways to treat them. Occasionally, one hand would glow as she held it over a wound while the other assessed another one.

In the back of her mind, she knew she was going to chew Axl out over whatever reckless thing he’d done to get himself into this situation. She knew she hated seeing him the way he was, and wanted to get him back to normal as quickly and carefully as possible. She also knew that, as soon as he was well enough to take it, she was going to throw herself on him and cry as hard as she could.

X and Zero left her to her work, knowing Axl was in good hands.  They’d fill her in on the story later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like what you’ve seen and want to keep up with the Internet’s Eternal Phenomenon, then be sure to follow me on social media! I’m on Twitter (@MysticDeadman), Instagram (@mystic_deadman), DeviantArt (MysticDeadman), Fanfiction (Mystic Deadman) and YouTube (Mystic Deadman)!
> 
> I also stream! My stream schedule is on my Twitter, and my channel can be found at twitch.tv/mysticdeadman


	5. Test, Test

The entire team stood around the Combat Simulator, focused on their leader.

“Okay, team, today is going to be a little different. Instead of running through a combat zone, the higher ups in the Maverick Hunters have ordered performance tests for each individual Hunter.”

Most of Unit 17 nodded along, following X’s words. The only person not to do so carefully slipped behind the massive armor of Massimo, if only to hide his yawn. X slightly narrowed his eyes at the sight, making a mental tally of Axl’s behaviors.

“Each of us will run through the same solo scenario,” He continued, “we’ll be dropped into a hostage situation. It’ll be up to us to assess the situation. Identify all hostiles, all hostages, formulate an extraction plan, and execute the plan with minimal casualties. Any question?”

At first, nobody moved. X scanned the group over, waiting for any sort of motion. That’s when a distinct right hand went up.

“Rules of engagement?” Zero asked, not waiting to be prompted.

“Minimal force at all times. Your goal here is to ensure the safety of the hostages. Minimize the risk to them by avoiding contact with the Mavericks, if possible.”

Cinnamon raised her hand, shaking slightly.

“Will I have to do this, too?”

“Yes,” X nodded, “every member of every team is required to undergo this test. That includes Field Support Members.”

Marino took a turn.  
  
“Are we getting any outside help?”

“No, not for this one. Navigator and Support Members are being excluded from this test to see what our capabilities are when we’re going in blind. Any other questions?”

Seeing nobody else raise a hand, X nodded to the group.

“Okay, let’s get set. There’s no time limit on this, but the sooner we get it done, the better.”

As the team started taking seats in the simulators, X took a deep breath. He knew that the rookies on the team weren’t going to be perfect. There were going to be mistakes made, and he was ready to take notes and help his team move past them. He was prepared to, once again, take on his role as Team Leader.

* * *

He was not prepared for what he was seeing.

Massimo failed his assessment almost immediately. That wasn’t really his fault, though, and X knew it. The former butler Reploid wasn’t made for combat, and it took until the late weeks of the Giga City Riots for him to actually get a feeling for fighting. X sympathized with him; it was no secret among the Hunters that, if X had his way, Mavericks would be talked down and arrested if it meant not risking injury to anyone. But, as much as he hated fighting, X knew that the world didn’t work that way, learned to set his feelings aside to get the job done, and was in the process of teaching Massimo the same.

The problem here, however, was that no matter how many times the simulation was reset, Massimo’s massive green armor gave his position away the instant he touched down. X was both thankful that the team was allowed infinite retries, as it were, and upset that Massimo was probably going to end up taking a failure overall for something that wasn’t his fault.

Cinnamon was probably the team’s worst performer. Just like Massimo, Cinnamon was never designed to take part in combat. If anything, she was protected under the (somehow) still active Geneva Convention as long as she never actually lashed out at someone on the field. Her intended design was to be a field medic if something were to happen while she was still at Dr. Gaudile’s laboratory and as a mobile Force Metal refinery. The most she did to defend herself during the Riots was wildly slap at her attacker. Once Zero realized that she wasn’t going to do anything else in a fight, he’d convinced Nana to design some gauntlet-based weapons for her. Gaudile never meant for her to get into a fight. He wanted her to be safe, and in return offer comfort to anybody she treated.

All this led X to not be surprised when Cinnamon had somehow gotten herself captured by the Mavericks and added to hostages with tears rolling down her face. X only hoped she could salvage her assessment a bit by convincing, through terrified sobs, the Mavericks to let her treat any injuries to either the hostages or their takers.

Marino shone compared to her fellow rookie teammates. Her overall design had been compared, by the resident slacker, to a ninja. When she looked into it, it wasn’t hard for her to see the similarities. She specialized in stealth infiltration, intelligence collection, close-quarters combat, and thievery. Nobody could pin down who it was that created her, but it was generally agreed among the Support Reploids across the Maverick Hunters that whoever it was clearly had no intention of using Marino in a way that would benefit the world. They also agreed that her joining the Maverick Hunters after the Giga City Riots made their lives infinitely easier. Between her ability to keep herself quiet, stick to the shadows, get in wherever the hell she wanted, and take apart anybody that stood in her way, it was a relief to everyone that they would never have to risk a future target attempting to buy her services as a form of protection.

For her assessment, Marino was easily able to slip into the building and make her way through. No Maverick in the simulation was able to pick her up. Not even the whirs of the servos in her legs could be detected. None were the wiser to her presence, and she was thankful that she didn’t need to engage anyone as she went along. She made mental notes about her surroundings as she went, planning out everything she could. Hostage locations, Maverick positions, floor plans. Everything went into her mind, and the perfect plan of action formed itself in her mind.

And then, she rounded a corner and bashed her head into a low ceiling that she would later swear on Axl’s life (“Hey!”) wasn’t on her scans. She’d activated her Quicksilver mode before entering the building, which made the impact with the ceiling much harder than it should have and ended up knocking her stupid. When she came to, she found herself with a group of hostages, bound and surrounded by armed Mavericks.

After the rookies had their turns, X took a minute to consider things. It was shocking how badly Unit 17 was performing to that point. Two of them he could understand, considering that they weren’t designed for situations like this. Marino making such a careless mistake, however, triggered red flags in his mind.

Zero’s assessment went somewhat similarly to Massismo’s. He was able to drop into the scenario without issue, and depending on how alert the Mavericks were, he could get in fairly painlessly as well. No matter how it started, though, it always turned out the same. One wrong turn and he would slam head-on into one of the targets. Zero’s skill in swordsmanship and close-quarters combat would rarely help in these moments. The Maverick would, inexplicably, recover from the impact faster than the Hunter would. They’d level their weapon, take aim, and make Zero think he’d cheated death for the third time in his life.

Later on, he’d ask Layer to simulate the damage he would’ve taken from the blasts if they were real. More often than not, he’d end up losing about half his body weight in one shot. Usually because his upper half would get separate from his top. He’d be thankful that he’d already been through that before and would probably manage to keep himself under control if it really happened.

Didn’t keep from pissing him off, though.

Axl had his own troubles, too. Because of his ability to copy the DNA from any Reploid, he figured he had an edge compared to everyone else. His gameplan was simple: get close, draw out one of the lower positioned Mavericks, take him down, copy him, and get in that way. Once he was in, then Hakuna Matata, the pieces would just fall into place. He could work his way up the ladder until he could get close enough to the leader of the whole thing and replace him first chance he got. Why bother trying to come up with some elaborate extraction plan when he could just order the Mavericks to stand down and be arrested. It wouldn’t be too hard to convince them to do it if he argued that Hunters storming the building would end up in every single one of them being retired. He was sure some of them had families they were just trying to provide for, and using the knowledge of their lives being on the line to his advantage would be Axl’s “Cruise Control for Cool.”

The hitch in his plan came from the fact that the first person he copied ended up being a close friend of someone else on that level. Close enough that the two always had some kind of cryptic “secret handshake” that ended up selling Axl out every time. Every single time. Every single damn time! What was he supposed to do when these Mavericks managed to get the best of him before both feet were even through a damn door?!

Oh-for-five. It was obvious. Something was going on, and X felt the need to get to the bottom of things. One or two failures he could understand. _Everyone_ , though? It was time for him to act like the leader he was and stand up for his team.

“Sir, with respect, where did the orders for these tests come from?”

Signas, who’d been watching the assessments with _deeply_ furrowed brows, turned to his computer. He pulled up the email that handed the orders to the Maverick Hunters and scanned it carefully. His look of concern quickly turned in to one of confusion.

“Who the hell is Albert Kimura?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes a tie-in to another of my works. It's a pretty flimsy tie-in, but it works with my headcanon.
> 
> If you like what you’ve seen and want to keep up with the Internet’s Eternal Phenomenon, then be sure to follow me on social media! I’m on Twitter (@MysticDeadman), Instagram (@mystic_deadman), DeviantArt (MysticDeadman), Fanfiction (Mystic Deadman) and YouTube (Mystic Deadman)!
> 
> I also stream! My stream schedule is on my Twitter, and my channel can be found at twitch.tv/mysticdeadman


	6. Crossed Blades

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The basis of this chapter was brought up as a joke between me and my mod, on stream, during my playthrough of Mega Man X4 last week. I decided, "f*ck it," and wrote it. Expanded on it a touch.

Not every training session was held in a simulated environment. Sometimes, the Maverick Hunters would perform various exercises live. The simulators were a highly effective tool for Hunter teams to use to create highly dangerous situations to work through without the risk of injury. However, many Hunters felt that in-person training sessions would help keep their skill sharp on their downtime. For this reason, Maverick Hunter HQ had large open-training rooms installed, giving the Hunters a place to freely exercise.

Most of the time, several Reploids and humans could be seen going through a multitude of workouts. However, on this day, in this room, the numerous occupants of the room largely stood still. Every set of eyes sat locked onto the center of the room, where a pair of notable Reploids sparred.

Or, to anyone who couldn’t see exactly what was going on, they were sparring. The sounds of metal clashing against metal certainly lent credibility to the idea.

X cried out, swinging his practice saber down on his opponent from midair. Said opponent, Zero, scoffed for a brief second before bringing his own weapon up to block. The sabers clanged together loudly, making any spectator around wonder how they didn’t shatter immediately.

“Way too readable,” Zero said, pushing X’s saber away. X quietly growled before wildly slashing at Zero again. Zero easily deflected every attack that even threatened to come close. Again, he scoffed.

“Too wild.”

X narrowed his eyes at Zero before an idea sparked in his head. He too another huge swing at Zero, forcing the red Reploid to defend against it. The second their blades made contact, X tried a new tactic. Balling his free hand into a fist, he raised it and launched it forward, hoping to catch Zero off guard.

Simply put: he didn’t.

Zero forced the tied-up weapons up, catching X’s arm and stopping the punch short of his head. He then fired off a quick kick to the back of X’s forward knee. The strike forced X to lose his balance, giving Zero the chance to deliver his own shot to X’s face. The blow knocked X to his back, allowing Zero to stand over his teammate with a disappointed look on his face.

“What was that supposed to be?”

X cried out in frustration before jumping up to his feet and, once again, launched a flurry of attacks. Zero once again cleanly parried every slash.

“Come on, X! Stop trying to hit me and hit me!”

One last large downward swing from X ended the match. Zero sidestepped the slash, brought his foot down onto the saber, and thrust the tip of his own blade toward X’s neck. X flinched at the attack, staring down at the weapon that, had it been a beam saber, could’ve done severe damage to him. The two separated after a moment of silence. Zero brought a hand up to his head, rubbing away at his helmet as if he were trying to massage a headache away.

“Seriously, X. It’s like you’re not even trying to take these lessons seriously.”

X rolled his eyes. “Zero, you know where I stand on fighting when it’s not needed.”

“Yeah, I’m aware.”

“And you know where we stand on our relationship.”

Zero nodded. “I know.”

“So you know I’m not a fan of having to learn how to use your Z-Saber.”

“And that’s fine. But you and I know how dangerous this job is. Hell, I’ve come close to dying, what, two or three times already?”

X sighed. “True, but I still don’t see why I need to know how to use a saber. Between my X-Buster and my Weapon Copy system, I don’t really have a need to--”

“Dynamo.”

X scoffed. “One time.”

“More than one.”

X threw his hands in the air. “Fine, I used your Z-Saber for a while. In my defense, we all thought you were dead.”

Zero walked up to X, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“Look, I know it’s not easy to lose someone close to you,” X flinched at that, the memory of Repliforce suddenly flashing in his mind, “but we have to be ready for anything.”

“I understand that, but I’m just not used to having an external weapon. I think the battle against Dynamo proved that.”

“I’m pretty sure that, with enough time and work, we can get you to look like you know what you’re doing.”

X grinned. “You think?”

Zero returned the smile. “Sure. Maybe one day, you might even look like that.”

With that, he pointed to another person in the training room. The other occupants, who had been completely forgotten by the elite Hunters until now, turned to follow the finger’s path.

Layer closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. Nothing around her mattered at the moment. There was no buzzing equipment. There were no shining lights. There were no other Reploids in the room, watching her with interest in what she was doing. All that mattered was Layer. All that existed was Layer.

A moment of total silence passed. Nobody dared make so much as a sound, not wanting to be the one to risk distracting the Support Reploid. Layer took another breath, inhaling and exhaling as deeply as her systems would allow. She took one last inhale before going completely still. The other Reploids in the room watched intently, each of them sensing that she was close to doing something. Seconds ticked by as everyone let the stillness of the room wash over them. Eventually, though, Layer finally made a move.

She lightly and steadily tapped her feet, almost as if she were dancing to a song in her head. With each tiny step, she slowly made her way forward. As she danced, she brought her hands into the air, creating an air of flair to her actions. Layer continued to dance until she was within arm’s reach of what looked like a handle of some kind.

She reached down to the ground, grabbing hold of the object in front of her. A quick flick of her thumb triggered a button on the side of the handle, extending an energy blade from the weapon. She lifted the sword, swinging at the air around her in clearly practiced motions. At one point, she brought the weapon to her front, swinging it in large circles in front of her and tapping with her feet again. Layer finished several circles before thrusting the weapon out in front of her with a shout. She slashed away a couple more times before bringing the weapon above her head, ending her performance with a pose.

Everyone watching, excluding X and Zero, began applauding Layer for her performance. They then resumed their own exercises.

“...you don’t expect me to do that, do you?”

Zero shook his head, chuckling slightly.

“No, that’s a little too out of your league right now. Also, a little too stiff.”

Zero walked away from his teammate, unaware that Layer had heard his comment and stiffened in reaction. X had noticed, though, and offered a quick apology to her before following Zero out. Layer let her arm come down, deactivating the beam saber as she did.

“Why am I attracted to him?” she mumbled to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The basis of this chapter was Zero teaching X to use his Z-Saber. You're welcome, Chicho. :)
> 
> For the curious, Layer's form is based on Raphael's Weapon Demonstration from the Soulcalibur series.


	7. Deception

“With the emergence of DNA-based technology, we feel that it is necessary to assess the Hunters’ abilities to identify their comrades as one possible method of espionage prevention.”

X nodded. It made sense. Until this day, there had been plenty of missions that had been resolved due to Axl taking a High Value Target’s identity as a relatively peaceful solution. It wasn’t a stretch to X that more Reploids were being built that may have had the same capabilities as the junior Hunter.

The explanation from Signas was enough for X to understand the reason for the situation in front of him. He was currently in an Interrogation Room, sat at one side of a table. On the opposite side, shackled to the top of the table, sat two identical looking Reploids. The task for X was to figure out which of the two was Axl, whose job it was to throw him off and fool him, and which of the two was Alia.

As soon as he’d walked through the door, both Alias acted the exact same way; They both sat up straight, both adopting a neutral expression. X mentally noted how well Axl nailed Alia’s continuous professionalism. Even during the bet where the squads had swapped places, Alia was the only one who seemed to be taking any part of it seriously. If it weren’t the fact that she clearly felt uncomfortable in the field, he may have approached her about working away from the desk.

In this moment, though, he had secretly hoped Axl would’ve slipped up right then and there so he could call him out on it. Sure, it would’ve made for a short exercise, but the chance to see Axl’s face when he had immediately failed would’ve made X’s day for once.

The three sat in silence for a moment, X trying to figure out the best way of handling this situation.

“Okay, you two,” he started. Neither Alia responded, “I’m sure you know why you’re here. Our security systems have detected two perfect DNA matches concerning the two of you. Now then, considering that Alia does not have any twin sisters that we were not made aware of when she joined the Maverick Hunters, it’s fairly safe to assume that we have a problem.

“So, here’s what we’re going to do. I’ve been working with Alia for nearly a decade now, so I have a solid grasp on what my team’s lead Navigator is like. So, we’re going to do this: I’m going to ask you two some questions. Answer them truthfully and accurately, and it should be fairly easy to decide who is who. Understand?”

Both Alias nodded. _Damn, thought that would catch Axl. Okay, let’s see how they handle this one._

“What was the first mission we worked together on?” he asked the Alia to his left.

“The fall of the space colony, Eurasia. The station had been forcibly infected with a strain of a computer virus, causing the station to fall out of orbit and plummet toward the Earth.”

“And what were we tasked with during that mission?”

“The limited restoration and use of the Enigma superweapon,” the one on his right responded, “The weapon was intended to destroy Eurasia and prevent its collision into the planet, which would cause widespread destruction and the elimination of virtually all sentient life on Earth.”

X made a mental note. That was a strike to Right Alia. In all the time he’d known Alia, it wasn’t like her to give incomplete information during a debrief.

_To be fair, though, this isn’t a mission debriefing. This is an interrogation._

The interrogation continued in this manner; X would ask a split question between the two. He would get an answer from one, and the other would expand upon it. He would go back and forth between the two, making sure to note any discrepancies between the two of them. After over a half-hour’s worth of questioning, though, he felt no closer to figuring out who was who.

_Axl’s gotten really good at blending in with his environment. Going to need to have a discussion with him later to make sure he doesn’t try to get too clever with it._

X considered one last question before he would make a determination.

“Do you have a romantic relationship with anyone here? Anyone that would be able to confirm the relationship?”

X mentally slapped himself. _How is that supposed to help me with anything? Fraternization may not be strictly banned, but it_ is _supposed to be frowned upon._

Before he could make an attempt to  retract the question for its ridiculousness, though, he’d gotten two very  different responses.

“I don’t currently have any sort of attraction to a member of the Maverick Hunters. My duties keep me far too busy to have time to pursue any sort of relationship.”

“X.”

If it weren’t for the fact that it was an Interrogation Room, and therefore already largely silent, all noise would have stopped dead. As it was, though, the three occupants all sat quietly, each with a different facial reaction to what was just said.

X sat in shock, not quite sure how to process what he’d just heard.

Left Alia sat straight up, her face betraying none of the internal cackling that was going on in her mind.

Right Alia also sat straight. Her eyes had narrowed, her hair nearly stood on end, and she could feel heat radiating from her entire face.

* * *

On the other side of a two-way mirror looking into the room, several people reacted. The entirety of Unit 17 gave differing reactions. Some of them groaned in frustration, while others laughed. Marino grinned madly, already counting the Zenny that she was making off the situation.

Both Alias were released from their restraints, though only one person in the entire room moved. Left Alia calmly stood up and walked out the door. As soon as it shut, Axl dropped his disguise and, in his own words, nearly lost his mind.

Signas sighed, rubbing away at his face. “Well, I think we’ve got the confirmation we all wanted.”

“I can’t believe his idea worked,” Palette giggled.

Zero sighed. “And this is why he’s both the best _and_ worst wingman in history.”

* * *

As everyone filed out of the Witness room, the two Reploids still in the Interrogation Room continued to sit in silence. Several awkward moments passed before anyone did anything to break the tension.

“So, uh,” he started nervously, “should we, uh, talk about this?”

Alia took a deep breath, trying to settle her nerves.

“You know what? Yes. Yes we should.”

X smiled slightly. “Maybe later tonight, then? Once we’re off-duty?”

Alia matched his smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like what you’ve seen and want to keep up with the Internet’s Eternal Phenomenon, then be sure to follow me on social media! I’m on Twitter (@MysticDeadman), Instagram (@mystic_deadman), DeviantArt (MysticDeadman), Fanfiction (Mystic Deadman) and YouTube (Mystic Deadman)!
> 
> I also stream! My stream schedule is on my Twitter, and my channel can be found at twitch.tv/mysticdeadman


	8. Suitable for Combat

“...and that concludes our overview of the newest Ride Armor models that our weapons contractors are designing,” Signas said, looking over Unit 17 as he finished his brief, “Does anyone have any questions they’d like to ask?”

In a near instant, a particular hand went up. Signas fought down the need to sigh at the hand’s owner.

“What is it, Axl?”

The young Hunter brought his hand down. His head rested in the other, an obvious look of boredom on his face.

“Yeah, serious question here. Correct me if I’m wrong, but we’re machines with tons of combat capabilities, right?”

Signas nodded. “Indeed. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be on the front lines for the Maverick Hunters. We’d have other tasks for you.”

“So, and hear me out on this, why is it that we need to know how to use Ride Armor in the first place? I mean, I get it, ‘giant mechs’ and all, but X copies the weapons of every Maverick he beats, Zero gets a new weapon and kung fu moves every time he beats someone, and I’m pretty sure I could arm a small militia with all my guns.”

Nine sets of eyes looked around, matching each others’ looks of confusion.

Palette scratched at her head. “Wait, you mean you don’t actually know why we use Ride Armors?”

“Didn’t we dispatch you on missions where Ride Armor had to be used?” Alia added. Axl simply waved his free hand, as if to dismiss the questions.

“Eh, I let either X or Zero drive those things. Never really saw any point in using them.”

Again, all Reploids in the room looked around. Silence reigned for a few moments while everyone thought of the best way to handle the situation. It was then that Signas smiled.

“Layer?”

“Yes?”

“Requisition us some Armor.”

“With gusto.”

* * *

Many Maverick Hunters that operated Ride Armor would offer similar opinions on their general designs and capabilities in the field. A survey had been conducted amongst the Hunters at one point, and a large margin of responses held the mechanical battle-suits in high regard. An extremely small minority expressed the same kind of displeasure Axl had in the team briefing.

The general consensus, though, could be summarized with two particular words:

“UNLIMITED POOOWWWAAAAHHHHH!”

Axl sat strapped into an older model Ride Armor, tearing through the specially designed obstacle course as though it were made of paper and he was a wrecking ball. The training drones that would emulate enemy Armor had an incredibly difficult time trying to match pace with the Reploid. Were he in an actual combat situation, Axl would have been any MHHQ accountant’s dream come true; the _piles_ of scrap metal that could’ve been collected and sold off in the wake of Axl’s rampage would’ve been enough to get said accountant to beg for Axl to be sent out in his own custom Armor. As it was, though, they would just have to be content with watching Axl force drone after drone to recreate enemy units as quickly as they could.

That was, until, a certain blue-armored Reploid sped forward in his own Ride Armor.

“Axl! That’s enough!”

Hearing his name, Axl stopped his Carnival of Destruction ( tm).  If the drones could have, they would’ve taken deep breaths to relax. Axl spun his Armor around so that he could see X.

“So I learned a good thing and a bad thing about these Armors,” he said, a wide smile on his face.

“What’s that?” X asked.

“Good thing: PHENOMINAL MECHANILOID POWAH!” Axl had his Armor punch the air in front of it as his way of showing off. He then shifted in his seat as much as he could to demonstrate his second point. “Bad thing: itty-bitty piloting space.”

“Take this seriously, Axl,” X began, “we’re not here to play around with these things. We’re here to let you get acclimated to using them and what kind of offensive and defensive features they have. We’re not here to play games.”

“Oh, lighten up, X,” Zero said as he approached, seated in his own set of Ride Armor.

Axl snorted. “Oh, you know it’s bad when _Zero_ of all people has to tell you to lighten up.”

“Shut it, Axl. Don’t make me rethink my decision to back you up here.”

X rolled his eyes. “Zero, don’t encourage him. These training sessions aren’t opportunities to goof around. They’re for us to get accustomed to operating these Ride Armors.”

Zero grinned. “Oh, please. Don’t make me bring up that one time in the Arctic.”

It was at that point that X’s eyes narrowed. His face tinted the slightest shade of red.

“Wait,” Axl said, a full blown smile on his face, “what about the Arctic, now?”

Zero fought back a laugh. “Well, it all started when X was assigned the task of taking down a  former Maverick Hunter a few years ago.”

Axl’s smile dropped. “Wait, that’s happened before?”

“Three or four times by now,” Zero said, “Chill Penguin was the second, after Sigma. But, that’s beside the point. The point here is that, on the approach to CP, a certain blue-armored Maverick Hunter came across an early Ride Armor build.”

“Zero, you’re not to say another word about that time.”

Axl grinned again.

“Oh, now I have to know.”

Zero’s grew. “According to the reports, some of the terrain was so torn apart that continuing on foot was unfeasible. The Ride Armor was necessary to cross.”

X was nearly tomato red at this point. “Don’t you dare! I gave you an explicit order!”

“What was it you said, again?”

“DON’T YOU DARE!”

Zero gave X a sharp grin. “Oh yeah, now I remember!”

X scrambled in his pilot’s seat, frantically searching for his armor’s restraint release.

“ _I can throw entire GALAXIES with this thing!”_

The raucous laughter wouldn’t stop for several hours.  Not even after X  finally freed, and subsequently, launched himself at Zero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspiration for this chapter: Buy MegaMan X Legacy Collection (Either 2 or the bundle), Play X8. Turn on Rookie Hunter mode. Play the Booster Forest stage. Lay the place to waste-like.
> 
> Also, I put 3 references in this chapter. See if you can spot them. One's trickier than the others!

**Author's Note:**

> I want to make it clear that I apologize for nothing that goes into this series.
> 
> Except Axl, maybe.
> 
> ...nah.
> 
> If you like this story and would like to see more of my works, please feel free to subscribe for story updates. Also be sure to follow me on Twitter (MysticDeadman), instagram (mystic_deadman), DeviantArt (MysticDeadman) and Fanfiction (Mystic Deadman) for updates!


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